Why Inclusive Fitness Is About More Than Exercise

This is a paid post contributed by a Patch Community Partner. The views expressed in this post are the author's own, and the information presented has not been verified by Patch.

The fitness world is often built around numbers: pounds lifted, miles completed, repetitions performed or minutes shaved from a workout. Those measures can be useful for tracking physical progress. But for people with developmental disabilities, they may not tell the whole story.

Subscribe

What if fitness success also means feeling comfortable enough to join a class for the first time? What if it means developing a routine that becomes part of everyday life? What if it means gaining the confidence to participate in a recreation program, walk with family or engage more fully with the community?

Those outcomes matter, too.

I am based in Boulder, about 30 minutes outside of Denver, and I work with clients throughout Denver and the surrounding area. That local connection gives me an opportunity to work directly with Denver-area schools, recreation programs, disability-service organizations, families and fitness professionals as they look for more individualized approaches to movement and inclusion.

For Denver-area schools, recreation programs, disability-service organizations and fitness professionals, expanding the definition of progress can create opportunities to make movement more individualized and meaningful.

I believe the fitness industry can sometimes focus too heavily on universal benchmarks. When every participant is measured against the same scorecard, important forms of progress can be overlooked. A person may not set a new personal record in the gym while still developing greater consistency, confidence, participation or independence in everyday activities.

That does not make physical strength less important. It gives strength a larger purpose.

At Better Everyday Athletics, I approach individualized movement by first asking a simple question: What would meaningful progress look like for this person?

The answer will not be the same for everyone.

For one individual, meaningful progress may involve becoming comfortable with a weekly movement routine. For another, it may mean building the stamina to participate in a favorite activity or becoming more confident in a community setting. The important part is establishing goals around the individual rather than expecting the individual to fit a predetermined definition of success.

That approach also gives coaches, educators and program leaders a different way to evaluate whether a program is working. Instead of asking only how much weight someone lifted or how quickly they completed an exercise, organizations can consider questions such as:

• Does the individual feel more capable and confident?
• Are healthy movement routines becoming more consistent?
• Is the person participating more fully at home, at school or in the community?
• Does the program support dignity, choice and self-determination?
• Are families seeing progress that has meaning in daily life?

These are not lesser standards. They are more complete ones.

The Better Every Day Method is built around five principles: meet people where they are, move with purpose, build better habits, strengthen the whole family and create lifelong independence. The goal is to view movement as more than an isolated workout and instead consider how purposeful activity can become part of a person's broader routine and development.

For local organizations, putting that philosophy into practice does not necessarily require completely redesigning existing programs. It can begin with individualized goal-setting, staff education and conversations with individuals and families about what progress actually means to them.

A recreation program might give participants more opportunities to work toward personal goals. A school could incorporate individualized movement objectives. A fitness organization could work more closely with families and support teams to connect activities inside a facility with participation outside it.

Denver's strong culture of health, recreation and outdoor activity provides an opportunity to think more broadly about inclusion. A more inclusive approach to fitness does not require abandoning traditional measures of physical progress. It means recognizing that those measures are only one part of the picture.

When organizations make room for confidence, consistency, participation, choice and independence alongside physical development, they can create programs that better reflect the people and families they serve.

James Anderson, CSCS, is the founder of Better Everyday Athletics, based in Boulder, Colorado, approximately 30 minutes outside of Denver. He works with clients throughout Denver and the surrounding area and is a former Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) and published author of Legacy of Health. He delivers in-person speaking programs and training for Colorado schools, organizations and community groups focused on inclusive fitness, adaptive movement and the Better Every Day Method.

To learn more about James Anderson and Better Everyday Athletics, or to inquire about Denver-area speaking engagements, client services or in-person training, visit www.bettereverydayathletics.com or call 303-579-7350.

This post is an advertorial piece contributed by a Patch Community Partner, a local brand partner. To learn more, click here.